Music Of Six Murdered Composers Highlight 'Art From Ashes' Concert

On January 24, 2021 at 5:00 p.m., Music of Remembrance (MOR) presents Art From Ashes, an online, on-demand video concert marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Continuing its annual tradition of honoring the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, MOR presents a chamber music program showcasing some of the remarkable works created by six murdered composers from across Nazi-controlled Europe: Prague-born Erwin Schulhoff was an audaciously original musical presence between the world wars. David Beigelman was a leading figure in Poland's once thriving Yiddish theater. Hans Krása will always be remembered as the composer of Brundibár, the opera performed 55 times by casts of child prisoners in Terezín. Dutch composer Dick Kattenburg, only ten years older than Anne Frank, spent the war years in hiding before his betrayal and arrest. László Weiner and Paul Hermann were shaped by Budapest's musical world of Bartók and Kodály. The varied program ranges from a haunting Yiddish song from the Lodz ghetto to a string quartet performed in Terezín, along with other works for string ensembles. These rarely performed works of stunning beauty are new to the MOR stage, some with unpublished scores that were specially made available. "These composers continued to create even in the face of unfathomable persecution," notes artistic director Mina Miller, "and we'll never know what they might have accomplished in longer lives and in a normal world." The works remain as a testament to courage and resilience in a time of horror. They tell stories that resonate today as strongly as ever.

MOR's stellar instrumental ensemble, drawn from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, features violinists Mikhail Shmidt and Natasha Bazhanov, violist Susan Gulkis Assadi, cellist Sarah Rommel, clarinetist Laura DeLuca and pianist Jessica Choe. The program also introduces 13 year-old flautist Julin Cheung, the 2020 recipient of MOR's David Tonkonogui Memorial Award for Young Artists.

The concert will begin streaming at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific) on January 24, and remain available online for one week. Access to this and all other concerts this season is available at https://musicofremembrance.uscreen.io/. Single concert passes are $30, and season passes for all four MOR concerts are available for $100.